Chinese Phonetic Alphabet and Phonetic Notation Input Method for Entering Multiword by Using Numerals of Keypad

Abstract

The present invention provides a numeric coded Pinyin and Zhuyin multi-character input method on a reduced keypad, in which each Chinese phrase is mapped to corresponding numeric sequences based on full syllable or initial consonant of a syllable inputting rule and the keypad mapping relation, accordingly, phrases of different phonetic pronunciation may be mapped to a same numeric sequence; in the case of consecutively receiving a numeric keystroke sequence which represents of several desired Chinese characters but pronunciation still undetermined, a processor immediately searches the phrases' numeric sequences which are matched with keystroke sequence and present these mixed phrase candidates to user even though these candidates may have different pronunciation; further, an initial syllable grouping and cycling rule is specially defined, along with a key for switching between character candidate priority and phrase candidate priority, additionally, define an equal-length candidate filtering code keystroke, and a key for determining syllable by character and the like to accelerate the choice of candidate phrases and facilitate the realization of PC-like Chinese phrase consecutive inputting on the reduced keypad.

1 . A numeric coded Pinyin and Zhuyin multi-character input method on a reduced keypad, the method comprising:
 (a) according to full syllable or initial consonant of a syllable inputting rule, each Chinese phrase in library is mapped to corresponding numeric code sequences based on the mapping relation between Pinyin letters or Zhuyin symbols and numeric key, and phrases of different phonetic pronunciation may be mapped to a same numeric code sequence;   (b) in the case of consecutively receiving a numeric keystroke sequence which represents of several desired Chinese characters, while user has not yet selected or confirmed any syllable string corresponding to any part of the keystroke sequence, the processor searches phrase's numeric code sequence to determines whether it matches the whole or the prefix of the numeric keystroke sequence, all these matched phrase candidates are mixed together regardless of whether or not their phonetic pronunciation is the same, and part or all of the phrase candidates are then presented in candidate list window.   
   
   
       2 . The input method of  claim 1 , for wherein mixed phrase candidates, further comprises a candidate grouping rule by its initial syllable, the processor decomposes mixed phrase candidates into one or more “candidate initial syllable subgroups” in such a manner that, if the Pinyin letter strings or Zhuyin symbol strings corresponding to the first Chinese character of some candidates are the same at the time of input, these candidates are classified into one and the same subgroup without considering whether or not the second or subsequent Chinese characters have the same pronunciation. 
   
   
       3 . The input method of  claim 2 , further comprises a specially defined cycling key for wherein said initial syllable subgroup, and once the cycling key is pressed, the candidate list is adjusted to a corresponding initial syllable candidate subgroup. 
   
   
       4 . The input method of  claim 1 , for wherein matched candidates, further comprises a candidate-length subsegment priority switching method in such manner that the processor divides all candidates into two subsegments, “multi character phrase candidate subsegment” and “single character candidate subsegment”, according to its number of the Chinese character, and present phrase candidates in the front of candidate window by default, once the left direction key is pressed in interaction status of candidate selection, candidate list is switched to character priority mode and single character candidate subsegment is firstly displayed, and if the left direction key is pressed again, candidate list is returned to phrase candidate priority mode. 
   
   
       5 . The input method of  claim 1 , wherein, after receiving an equal-length candidate filtering code keystroke entered by the user, said processor limits the Chinese character characteristic based on the filtering code, and only the candidate that fulfills the filtering limitation is displayed in the candidate window. 
   
   
       6 . The input method of  claim 5 , wherein the said filtering codes for different Chinese characters have the same code length, the same number of corresponding keystrokes which is two or three, and the same first corresponding keystroke. 
   
   
       7 . The input method of  claim 1 , wherein if the user has not confirmed any Pinyin or Zhuyin syllable corresponding to any part of the numeric keystroke sequence, and once the hotspot candidate in the candidate window is alternated, said processor will start the automatic linkage of Pinyin or Zhuyin syllable displayed in input-and-edit window such that the corresponding Pinyin or Zhuyin string is consistent with the pronunciation of the hotspot candidate. 
   
   
       8 . The input method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 A key for determining syllable by the first character in hotspot candidate is specifically defined, once the key is pressed in the interaction status of candidate selection, the processor rapidly adjusts the candidate list to an initial syllable candidate subgroup which corresponds to the pronunciation of the first Chinese character in the hotspot candidate   
   
   
       9 . The input method of  claim 1 , wherein define a numeric key is specifically as user-defined phrase deletion key in the interaction status of candidate selection, once the key is pressed, if the current hotspot candidate is a user-defined phrase, the processor will delete the phrase from the phrase library or memory. 
   
   
       10 . The input method of  claim 1 , wherein a set of small pictograms with visual emphasis is used to intuitively represent user keystrokes, while the pictogram should depict at least two of numeral, Pinyin letters and Zhuyin symbols represented by the numeric key, and the visual emphasis part should be one Pinyin letter or one Zhuyin symbol corresponding to the numeric key. 
   
   
       11 . The input method of  claim 1 , wherein in input-and-edit status, if the numeric string at the current caret point is only a prefix of a full numeric code instead of a full numeric code, the processor will automatically supplement the numeric string into a full numeric code sequence upon the departure from the current caret point. 
   
   
       12 . The input method of  claim 1 , wherein in the case of receiving a numeric keystroke sequence which represents of several desired Chinese characters, if at least one Pinyin or Zhuyin syllable left in input-and-edit window after a candidate selection operation, the processor will automatically shift the caret point to the back of the first phonetic syllable left in the input-and-edit window. 
   
   
       13 . The input method of  claim 1 , wherein in the case of receiving a numeric keystroke sequence which represents of several desired Chinese characters, if at least one Pinyin or Zhuyin syllable left after a candidate selection operation, the processor will automatically display a syllable-confirming window which contains syllable options corresponding to the prefix part of the remaining user keystroke sequence. 
   
   
       14 . The input method of  claim 1 , wherein the input method supports that that no syllable delimiter keystroke is required between two phonetic syllables, after receiving such a numeric keystroke sequence which represents of several desired Chinese characters containing no syllable delimiter, the processor enumerates all potential division paths from the sequence's beginning to the end according to the rule of Pinyin or Zhuyin syllable table, and then finds a division path having minimum path segments as an optional path. 
   
   
       15 . The input method of  claim 1 , wherein when no numeric keystroke sequence representing any Pinyin or Zhuyin is inputted, one numeric key is defined as mixed input status initial key, once the initial key is pressed, the input method enters directly into a mixed input auxiliary status in which capital-and-lower-case Western letters and words, numerals and symbols can be inputted, and automatically return to a Pinyin or Zhuyin input method primary status at the end of the above mixed inputting. 
   
   
       16 . The input method of  claim 3 , wherein said cycling key for initial syllable subgroup is the same physical key as the input key for Pinyin or Zhuyin syllable delimiter. 
   
   
       17 . The input method of  claim 1 , wherein after entering the numeric keystroke for one or more Chinese characters, the switching among three statuses of interaction status of input-and-edit, interaction status of candidate selection and interaction status of syllable-confirming in the input method is realized according to the following scheme:
 (1) the key for switching from the interaction status of input-and-edit to the interaction status of syllable-confirming is one same direction key on a keypad as that for switching from the interaction status of candidate selection to the interaction status of syllable-confirming;   (2) In the interaction status of input-and-edit, two direction keys which opposite to each other are used to enter the interaction status of syllable-confirming and the interaction status of candidate selection, respectively;   (3) in both of the interaction status of syllable-confirming and the interaction status of candidate selection, define one and the same escape key to quit from above two statuses and return to input-and-edit interaction status   
   
   
       18 . The input method of  claim 14 , wherein if there are more than one division path having minimum path segments, and the length of each path segments of one division path are not completely equal to that of another path, the processor will select a preferred division path according to the length and the usage frequency of a phrase candidate corresponding to each path in such a way that, if the number of Chinese characters in the longest phrase candidate corresponding to a division path is greater than that of any other, the path is selected, and if these longest phrase candidate have the same number of Chinese characters, a path corresponding to a phrase with the highest usage frequency is selected. 
   
   
       19 . The input method according to  claim 15 , wherein in the case of entering the mixed input auxiliary status without pressing any numeric key, Chinese punctuation is listed in a candidate window and if a numeric keystroke is inputted after entering the mixed input auxiliary status, all the Western words corresponding to the numeric string are listed in the candidate window along with the numeral itself. 
   
   
       20 . The input method of  claim 15 , wherein if a numeric string is inputted in the mixed input auxiliary status, lower and capital case Western letters, numerals and symbols corresponding to each key in the numeric string will be successively listed in the candidate window, after these letters, numeral or symbols be chosen one by one to form a customized Western string, the customized string will be added into a user defined word library.